10/10/2011

Jenny Craig Review and $100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

*** I was given the opportunity in September to try out Jenny Craig for four weeks, including food, free of charge. Over the next couple of weeks there will be three posts that walk you through the experience. All of them will have a fun giveaway included, so I hope you follow along!***

Have you ever noticed that there are ZERO pictures of me on this blog? If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you know there aren't any there either. I am a picture avoider. You know why? Because I really have no desire to see what I really look like. I like the eighteen year old image of myself I keep safely tucked in my head.

Last January I attended Blissdom. I talked myself into going, even though it is picture taking central, because there were a TON of amazing bloggers that I wanted to meet. I would be okay with the pictures. Then I got home and people started posting those pictures and this is what I saw:

You know when you read all of those inspirational weight loss stories and they always start with THAT picture. You know, the picture where the person saw themselves for the first time and it motivated her to change her life. I thought this picture was going to do that for me. I was pretty mortified at what I saw. Granted, it isn't the most flattering angle, but there comes a time when you really can't blame it on the angle any more.

It didn't turn out to be as motivational as I had hoped. Winter changed to spring and spring changed to summer and I didn't change any of my habits. And then I got an email. It was an opportunity to work with Jenny Craig for four weeks. I would work with one of their consultants, receive four weeks of free food, and share my experience with you guys along the way.

A few things you should know.

The idea of talking about being fat, with a consultant or on my blog, sends me into a tizzy. In my perfect world I would lose weight without anyone noticing. Because when people ask if I have lost weight, what I actually hear is: "You used to be fatter, but I didn't want to say anything."

I have never ever EVER tried a structured diet plan before. Never taken diet pills or gotten shots or gone to meetings or counted points. I believe that eating right and exercising is the only way to lose weight and keep it off and I figured if I could do it at all then I would be able to do it by myself. Control freak much?

When it comes to dieting I am all or nothing. I get all gung-ho about exercising and watching what I eat, and when it starts to fall apart in a couple of weeks I just sort of give up and figure I have to start over.

So basically I couldn't believe I said yes. I had a little 'How's that working for you?' moment with myself and figured I had to at least give it a shot. So off to Jenny Craig I went.

The first meeting wasn't painful at all. It helps that all of the women that work in my center have struggled with their weight. They all have before pictures of themselves in their office. After introductions there was a lot of information about the program and conversation about my goals. My consultant went over the plan with me and talked about how it encompasses more than just your body and the food you eat, but your mind and how you think about food and dieting. I even got homework.

After the intro they packed up all of my food for the week and I was all set up to start on Tuesday morning.

A couple days later they called to check up on me and make sure I didn't have any questions that needed to be answered, and getting started was as easy as that.

I will let you know how the next four weeks go. The average Jenny Craig client loses 1-2 pounds each week, which is what I know is a normal and healthy rate, so at the end of this four week stretch I should have at least lost the weight I gained on our two week family RV trip. But let's talk about you! I want to know how you are doing and what you are doing. Leave a comment letting me know what you do to try to live a healthy life and you will be entered to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.

The sweepstakes will run from 10/10/2011 - 11/6/2011.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entrymethods:a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this postb) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a commenton this postc) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment onthis postd) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or olderWinners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will beselected.See the Official Rules HERE.

129 comments:

About 6 months ago I gave up sugar. Okay, most sugar: I still eat sweetened yogurt and regular peanut butter. I also gave up junk food like chips and crackers. I feel much better and lost 17 pounds. The sad news? I've lost 27 pounds in 18 months and not one single person has noticed or commented.

I have been on a weight roller coaster for most of my life. I think I have finally gotten the hang of a healthy lifestyle and what works for me. I have cut back, not out, carbs and tried to consistently include working out into my day. Whether it is at the gym, or walking my dog around the neighborhood for at least a half hour. I have also convinced my entire family to sign up for a Turkey Trot the morning of Thanksgiving. This way, a 5K will help balance out a day of eating :)Good luck on your journey, it takes will power and dedication but it feeling healthy is soooooooo worth it!

I am starting to cut out diet soda (alas, Diet Coke, we need to break up) because of all the things I've been reading lately regarding artificial sweeteners, and also, let's face it, replacing those diet cokes with water or milk is a much healthier choice. I don't let my children drink soda all the time, so why should I? Good luck on this journey. It's tough, but I know you can do it!

I think the little things add up. I always park away from the store (but close to a cart rack so I don't have to worry about the kids!). I don't drink sugared drinks with all the empty calories. I use spray butter instead of margarine or real butter. Wishing you lots of luck on Jenny Craig! Can't wait to hear how it goes.

Good luck! Just over a month ago when my youngest entered 1st grade I joined a gym and coughed up the money for a personal trainer. I have worked out 5 days a week each week since and I count the calories of almost every morsel I eat. The weight is not coming off as quickly as I'd hoped, but I've just got to keep pugging away at it. I figure the time will pass one way or another and I really don't want to be making the same old New Year's resolution over and over again.

I always eat a healthy bowl of oatmeal with dried cranberries and slivered almonds in the morning. I feel like sets me up right for the day -- on the days when I happen to eat a bowl of cereal or pancakes I'm hungry soon after and I want to snack on junk food all day!

I have moved to real foods, avoiding processed mixes and preservatives. We don't drink soda, and we eat lots of fruits and veggies.I'm not a food nazi though; I let my child have a cookie if it's offered, even though I don't buy them. I don't my kid to be hung up on food, just healthy!

More exercise. I just finished a diy kitchen udpate and was spending all my spare time on that. Now I'm trying to get back into my exercise routine. It's so much easier to stop than it is to start up again!!

Good luck and best wishes to you on your journey. It must have been difficult for you to decide to share something so personal on your blog.

I've been using the Lose It app on my phone to keep track of my calories I take in with eating and burn off with exercise. I find it very helpful! It really keeps me aware. I definitely think twice before eating something. It helps me strive for meaningful calories instead of wasting them on empty ones. Plus I don't want all of my hard work of exercising to be for nothing!

I believe that calories and exercise is what truly matters. I also believe in optimizing those calories and the exercise routine. My husband and I found a truly amazing book called "Eat Right for Your Genotype." It's predecessor is "Eat Right For Your Blood Type" and depends a bit on that. As of now, hubby has lost almost 70 lbs since March. His genotype allows him to eat chocolate, but mine doesn't! Sad! However I can have honey and he can't. It's not one diet for everybody, it's a diet that's assigned to a specific type. You find your type by measurements (torso, leg length, finger length) and blood type. My type is an incredibly active type and I've always vaguely known that. I knew I needed to be more active than what I have been since graduating high school 8 years ago and finding out my genotype just confirmed that. Hubby, however, isn't supposed to get more strenuous than a good hike. So how is this optimizing? If you're getting too little exercise for your type, obviously that's not good, but if you're also doing too much, it can actually create stress. My BIL's type is like that. Too much exercise while eating wrong is converted into more stress and his system will compound stress upon stress until he has a breakdown (which he did). He doesn't have a stressful job, it's just his eating habits and exercise habits were wrong for his type.

Lorie! I am soooooo going to email you because I will leave a book of a comment if I don't. First...thank you for sharing your heart! I am not even writing this to enter the giveaway. I just wanted you to know that I loved you sharing this and being so transparent...so refreshing! And you could have been talking about me. :) Oh and to answer the question...I strive to run a 5K a day! But there are days I don't even get out of the jammies. But I try, girl. I try. :)See? It still ended up long.

I have been walking 4 miles 5 days a week, and controlling my portion sizes. I have lost 40 total pounds since having my baby in February! I still have at least 25 more to go though. 'Can't wait! Good luck to you also!

I've been thinking about joining Jenny Craig myself, so I'll be interested to follow along and see how you do. I have a lot of weight to lose, and I've never really gotten very serious about losing it. You are a brave woman to put this out there and I'm cheering you on!

Hmmm...what am I doing, what am I doing...I'm eating, growing out of my pants, and then complaining about it! I did start up walking/biking/running, but when clinicals started a couple weeks ago, that went out the window. I don't lose weight unless I diet, so JC sounds pretty good to me! I hope it goes well for you! good luck!

Wow! How brave of you to put this out there. I promise MANY of us feel the same way about seeing ourselves in photos. Ugh. And I'm like you - I get on a kick, then after a few weeks I fizzle out. For the last three weeks I have been really trying to be consious of what I eat. I haven't stepped on a scale, but I feel my clothes getting a little baggier. Now, if I can just keep up the motivation to stick with it....

Ok, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but WOOOOOHOOOOOOO to you! (I love seeing pictures of bloggers. You're NOTHING like I pictured. First off, I thought you were older for some reason...because nobody as young as you should have time to run a blog this busy! haha) Your'e gorgeous. :-)

Oh, losing weight...I've been battling that one for decades. Literally. I think right now, I"m the healthiest I've ever been, thanks to the Y and Zumba classes. Oh, and hubs is on a new special low cholesterol diet, so we've both lost 3-4 pounds there. Can't wait to hear how Jenny Craig works out for you!

I am not doing good at staying healthy at all! I've got to start exercising and eating better again! I lost 32 pounds with WW several years ago, but I've gained back 22 of them. It's really depressing.

I started attending the gym, 5 days a week back in January of this yeaar. Honestly, it was so stinkin' hard but I am still doing it. With exercise and better food choices, I am happy to report that I am down 63 lbs. and still counting.I would love the $100 to buy some new jeans. Icurrently do not have a single pair that fit :-). Thanks for the chance!

I just started on a weight loss plan myself. I realized I was using food for comfort, and using every excuse in the book. My clothes didn't fit, and the number on the scale kept inching up. Lucky for me my future sister in law is a nutritionist, and she came up with a plan that worked for me, and I started working out, and have lost just shy of 6 pounds over the last 3 weeks... but I worked hard for every single one of those pounds. I have a long way to go, but I know I can do it. What I do now is keep track of EVERYTHING I eat, even the little mini dove promise, and all of my activities, and make sure there is a substantial deficit at the end of the day. It's working well! :)

I've been working on this as well. In the past seven weeks I've lost 11 lbs. So.. about 1-2 lbs per week too. I've been trying to make healthier food choices, and controlling my portion size. I'm also trying to add a lot more fruit and veggies to my diet.

After giving birth to three children over the last 9 years, I have gained a ton of weight. I have been struggling with dieting the last 2 years. I have to do something, so I started WW and I am praying I see great results.

I am currently 35 weeks pregnant, but before this pregnancy, I started doing weight watchers, and was so surprised at how easy it was to count points and I lost weight fairly quickly. I'm looking forward to getting back to it, once baby is here and life is back to some sort of normal!

best wishes for your four weeks with jenny craig! i am much heavier now than when i got married, but what can i do about it? it's not like i have extra money to join a gym, and even if i did, we have 4 kids and homeschool, so when would i get to go? my husband works very hard so he's able to keep his weight off for the most part. so when i cook supper, instead of getting a helping of rice, noodles or potatoes, i get some fresh vegetables out along with some milk. i have tried to eat a lunch so that i don't go overboard at supper too. and if we run out of sweets in the house, i don't run out and get more. hmmmm, what a brilliant idea, stay away from the sweets! i don't even know if any of that will help, i just started this last week, and i don't have a scale anymore(did i mention 4 kids?) i saw myself in your post, avoid pictures, tell everyone to do a head shot or stand behind someone, right? not everyone can get on the biggest loser or afford a shot, more power to you!

I've been working out for a little over a year now, with my very athletic, very in shape (very HAWT) husband. Even though I've gotten stronger I don't necessarily feel like I am healthier (ie, I still feel my heart racing when I go up the stairs with a laundry basket). So lately I've been really trying to eat healthier and get more cardio in. It's tough as there are years and years of bad eating habits; I'm definitely fighting the sugar addiction.

I completely hear you on the no pills or shots, doing it the healthy way is the way to go. Because once the pills and shots are done you've still got the crappy habits to go back to because you haven't learned anything else. Good luck, and thanks!

roller coaster dieter here. i can't do the yogurt for breakfast, soup for lunch, salad for dinner bit no matter how hard i try. it gets old after about a week. dieting is hard and getting up off the couch is harder.

I worked on my feet for years (coffee shops, waitressing, child care, etc) and never had to worry about diet or exercise because I was young & burning a ton of calories every day. Now I've been using the PS3 Sports Active workout program (kind of like Wii fit), and trying to eat healthy, but it's a struggle.

I really admire your candor here Lorie! And taking on any kind of new challenge deserves a big congratulations. Right now I'm in the middle of milking the "eating for two" excuse, so I don't have much to offer, but I just wanted to write and say that this is such a well-written post. I loved it.

One of the things I do to try and live a healthier life is to walk more. I park further from the office so I have to walk further to get in, and I take the stairs as much as possible. Plus I try to eat balanced meals in the right portion size (that is my big problem - too big portions!). Thanks for sharing your story!

I'm a die hard exercise and portion control advocate. Lets be honest who can live without carbs for the rest of their lives? To be successful at weight lose it has to be a life change or it all comes back. (I know this annoying side effect of dieting VERY well!) Good luck and I hope you are successful and will have some good advice for us!

My favorite way to keep a healthy lifestyle is to stock the fridge and pantry with healthy food and snacks only. No junks. That way, the choices of meal and snacks are going to be a healthy start...and portion control is another key. Thanks for sharing your detail review.

I always tried exercise to help me loose weight but it wasn't working anymore after 30 (boo!). I started keeping track of what I ate with a food diary and started loosing weight like crazy! I'm down 20 lbs so far and feeling so great. Yay!

I've been hiking 10 miles (in the hills) every Saturday morning since January! I can't believe the results...my legs and bottom have never been this firm! I need to work out more and eat better but I feel good that I'm at least hiking every week!

You have no idea how much i related to this post! I lost an immense amt of weight last year and i stuck with exactly what you stated: exercise & eating right. I've since gained some of the weight back and it's a lot tougher now to get motivated. I've resolved to stop taking every invite out for lunch and joined a mile club and set a realistic goal to achieve but also challenge myself. speaking of before & after pics here is mine: http://mammabirdmusings.blogspot.com/2011/07/fatty-mcfatterson.html

You're such an inspiration and I love your genuine honesty! I've been trying to lose weight and get fit for awhile but more seriously this past year. I can't afford a gym membership so I work out at home with some DVDs, go bicycling or walking with my husband and we try to eat healthy. Unfortunately we'renot perfect and sometimes a big bowl of ice cream or a warm brownie overtake our good habits. Good luck on your journey and everyone else on their journies to a healthier lifestyle! :) heather_dice37(at)yahoo(dot)com

I stopped by potato chips and I've been buying more fruit and veggies. I found that if I pre-make myself salads, I'm more likely to reach for that when I'm in a snacking mood than grabbing something unhealthy. I've also been walking the dog 3 times a week. The vet said his arthritis would improve if he lost a few pounds (me too!) so we're starting out slowly and walking 3 evenings a week.

My problem is that I have gained weight over the past year or so,(of which I had lost the year before-actually lost 50 lbs) so gaining almost all of it back is not what I wanted or planned to do but I had some personal issues, & starting pre-menopause plus my thryoid is out of whack again plus issues of stress with being out of work and all has contributed to me not paying enough attention to what I eat,& I am not exercising because I just couldnt get started or stay focused, I really want to lose this weight, I know I need to stay on track but its very hard, so I have decided to just cut down on some things that I have been eating/drinking way too much of, pepsi Is my fav, I cut that down to barely nothing and it helps alot, I dont like diet so that is not an option, I also am trying to cut down on bread & other carbs I can live without, these few things will make a difference in losing weight, I also plan to get back into walking more which helped me alotThanks for the great giveawaydebis126 at yahoo.com

I'm TRYING to go to bed at a "decent" hour. With a 4 yr old, late night is my "Mommy" time to read blogs, read a book, or catch up on cleaning. But I've heard that no matter how much you diet/exercise, lack of sleep can diminish results at a ginormous rate. So zzzzz's here I come!

Go Lori! My bff is doing Jenny Craig too and she's lost about 12 lbs in 10 weeks. It seems like a really great program. Personally, I do my best to eat well and exercise regularly. And if the weight starts to creep on or my clothes feel tight, I make a change immediately to get it back under control. My biggest challenge is limiting sugary foods, especially when I'm tired or don't feel well. I swear that sugar is medicinal at times! I try to just have a little and not make myself feel guilty about the indulgence.

Keeping a food diary for a few weeks is really enlightening. I always ate small meals and couldn't understand why I couldn't lose weight. With the diary I found I eat lots of little bites through the day (a few crackers here, half a bagel there) and they really add up. being concious of what I eat helps a lot.adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com

I try to use the exercise bike I recently purchased at least 3 or 4 times a week. It started to become a clothes hanger but I've put a stop to that! I also drink a lot of water and don't drink much soda at all. Every little bit helps!dahbou at gmail dot com

I like to eat small portions of healthy snacks throughout the day so that I don't feel deprived and to keep my blood sugar stable and I love going outdoor biking which I only have time to do during weekends so I just use the treadmill for around a half an hour every other day.lyndadawinda1074 at yahoo dot com

I have struggled all my life with being overweight but always denied it because I could still be active. Until recently- when it has finally caught up with me and my knees and feet hurt. I now need to do something. All the comments have been very helpful.

I have been trying weight watchers and so far I really like it. You can eat anything you want as long as you stay within your point limit. I still have a ways to go though! wakechick25(at)yahoo(dot)com

I gave up flour and sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup, and lost 23 pounds in 3 months! Then I got pregnant with hyperemesis gravidium and threw up so much I dropped another 27 in my first 6 months. Personally, I recommended limiting flour, sugar and corn syrup and making 1/2 your plate veggies for lunch and dinner. Keep up the good work!

In order to try and live a healthier lifestyle, I have been a vegetarian for over 11 years, I try to only buy organic and natural foods, and I avoid household cleaners and body products that contain chemicals.Angie14earth at gmail dot com

One of the best things I ever did to live a more healthy life is to become a vegan. I have been vegan now for over ten years and I feel so much better. There are still things I can do to improve though, and even though I'm vegan I still eat some junk food that I really shouldn't.

Losing weight is not easy specially when you see someone eating your favorite dessert. I have learned control is the main thing in losing weight. I am down almost 40 pounds in 11 months. I wish it were more but its a start. sweepmorey at gmail dot com

Disclosures: Many of my posts contain affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link and buy something, I may receive a small commission. It does NOT result in any additional cost to you. I participate in theAmazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. You can see my full disclosure statement here. You may also view our privacy policy here.